


always and forever

by rosesareredvioletsareblue



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 08:41:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19059154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosesareredvioletsareblue/pseuds/rosesareredvioletsareblue
Summary: There was a video. A projection of her dad. She only knew that because when she ran to hug it she ran right through.“I love you three thousand.” Her dad whispered to her as she sat, crying in her mom's lap.She didn’t remember what it meant.(Or: Morgan grows up and tries to remember what "I love you 3000 means.")





	always and forever

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So I wrote this in about 30 minutes because the idea wouldn't leave me alone. It's also super short, so there's that. It takes place right after endgame, so I hope you like it! Enjoy!

Morgan doesn’t remember her dad.

 

But she wants to.

 

 _God_ , she wants to.

 

The only think Morgan has are little flashes, tiny pieces of memories that she prays turn into something real. Something solid. Preferably in the shape of one Tony Stark.

 

She remembers playing in a tent with her mom’s Rescue helmet and her dad coming out to find her. He told her not to use it or to not go in his lab or something but hey, even a fragment of a memory is a memory.

 

She remembers a funeral, although at the time she didn’t realize it was a funeral. She ran out the door to meet her parents, but instead saw her mom pretending to be okay and a very strong man holding her dad’s body. She asked who the man was and why her dad was sleeping and saw something in her mom break.

 

That was the day Morgan met her brother. Peter. Spider-Man. The only other person who could probably see what she was going through. Sure, her mom tried, Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Happy tried, but Peter told her that his dad died when he was little too. So she wrapped her arms around him and whispered “you’re my daddy’s favorite superhero.”

 

She didn't understand why he started to cry.

 -------

There was a video. A projection of her dad. She only knew that because when she ran to hug him she ran right through it.

 

 _“I love you three thousand.”_ Her dad whispered to her as she sat, crying in her mom's lap.

 

She didn’t remember what it meant. She wasn’t sure she wanted too. All she knew was that she didn’t want anyone to be sad anymore and she wanted to know what was happening and why Uncle Happy teared up when she wanted a cheeseburger. She just wanted her dad. It made her feel a little better knowing everyone else did too.

 

“Goodnight, Morgan.” Her mom whispered as she put her to bed. “I love you so much.” She pressed a kiss to Morgan’s forehead and left. As soon as she closed the door, she remembered something she heard her daddy say a long time ago.

 

_“If a snap took them out, can it bring them back?”_

 

Because that’s what her daddy did. That’s why he isn’t tucking her in with a story and a hug and a “ _go to sleep or I’ll sell all your toys”._ He snapped. So Morgan snapped too, alone in the darkness of her room. She woke up early to check her parents room and cried when he wasn’t there.

 -------

Morgan grew up. She watched the projection every day and wondered what three thousand meant. She hung out with Peter, who became more than her friend and confidant, he became her brother. They did almost everything together with the shared brain cell that comes with being a child of Tony Stark. One time, she built a suit out of sheer boredom. Peter sobbed when he saw it, so she put it away and never pulled it out again.

 

She’d beg Peter to tell her stories about her dad, to do anything that keeps him alive. Sometimes she’s jealous of Peter. After all, he had her dad longer than she did. But Peter could always tell when she felt like that and start apologizing and every ounce of jealousy would dissolve as she gave her brother the biggest hug ever.

 

She watched Pepper take over an industry and change the world into the safe, beautiful place her dad wanted it to be. Died for it to be. Morgan wondered if it was worth it. She didn't think it was. One day, she asked her mom what three thousand meant. Her mom laughed before it turned into a sob and she collapsed into her daughter’s arms.

 -------

It isn’t until she was in college-

 

_“MIT.” Her mom pushed Morgan’s hair out of her face, smiling softly at her daughter who looks so much like Tony it’s scary. “He’s so proud of you. He’s looking down and smiling, you know.”_

 

_“I know.” Was all Morgan replied, letting her mom give her a huge hug._

 

-that she remembers what it means. The ever elusive “ _I love you three thousand.”_ She’s alone in her apartment and an elephant documentary of all things pops up, so naturally she clicks it, because elephants.

 

“The average African elephant weighs from about 2.5 to 7 tons-“ the narrator said as all the air rushes out of Morgan’s lungs. The remote fell out of her hand and crashed to the floor in slow motion. She follows it with a sob as the memory hits her all at once. She remembers. It only took almost twenty years, but holy shit, _she remembers._

 

_“Daddy?” Morgan asked, sneaking into her father’s lab that morning. The day he discovered time travel. The day he would bring her brother into her life and leave hers._

 

_“Shit!” Tony whispers and drops a wrench on the work table, clutching his chest. “Sorry, language. Don’t use that word.” Morgan giggled. “What’s up, kid?”_

 

_“Can you tell me a Spider-Man story?” She pulled out the biggest weapon in her arsenal- her puppy dog face- and fixed it on her dad. He sighed._

 

_“Of course.” He was always kind of sad when she asked for a Spider-Man story, but she didn’t get why._

 

Now she gets why. It's the same feeling when someone asks her if life as Iron Man's daughter is fun. Most of the time, she's forced to hold back a snarky retort that her dad for sure would have been proud of.

 

_Tony picked her up and brought her to the kitchen and gave her lemonade and cookies with a promise not to tell her mom._

 

_“Well,” He started,” his name was Peter Parker-“_

 

_“No, I know that stuff, daddy.” She pouted. Her father laughed. “Tell me sciencey stuff. Was he super strong?” Tony smiled._

 

_“Heck yeah. He could lift about 10 tons.” Morgan stared at him, confused. “One ton is 2,000 pounds.” He sat next to her and explained. He wrote down the math as he did it so she would know one day. “So 2,000 times 10 is 20,000-“_

 

_“Wow! Spider-Man can lift 20,000 pounds?” Tony smiled, reminiscing._

 

_“Yeah. He could.”_

 

That was it. She remembers now. The whole thing with the pounds and the lemonade and the _“I love you tons.”_ As he put her to bed that night.

 

“ _I love you three thousand.”_ She replied to him that day, remembering. Because a ton is two thousand pounds. And she loves her father more than that. More than words can describe. Even if he’s gone.

 

“I love you three thousand.” She whispers to her empty apartment.

 

She wants him to remember too.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm not sure if 5 year olds can physically snap, but I included it because the idea made me sad and I didn't want to suffer alone.


End file.
